TUSCALOOSA — Even before anyone hits the practice field for the start of camp, Alabama has already seen noted improvement in at least one area — its poll ranking.

Despite massive turnover on offense and uncertainty at quarterback, the Crimson Tide remain one of the top teams in the country after drawing a No. 3 national ranking in the initial 2015 USA Today Amway Coaches Poll rankings released Thursday morning. Auburn was voted No. 7.

The Tide begin practice Aug. 6.

Auburn was selected to win the SEC championship at SEC Media Days 2015 earlier this month in a prediction that new starting quarterback Jeremy Johnson and new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will be a factor. Alabama was selected at SEC Media Days to win the SEC West.

“Auburn is a place where we expect to win championships,” Auburn coach Gus Mazahn said on ESPN. “We’re young and inexperienced, but we’re talented young.”

Auburn played for the national title two of the last five years, winning it all in 2010. The Tigers open practice Tuesday.

Alabama after finishing last season with a tough-to-swallow loss to eventual national champion Ohio State in the first-ever College Football Playoff semifinal, dropping to No. 4 in the country in the final Coaches Poll last season, jumped one spot to third behind the top-ranked Buckeyes and No. 2 TCU.

It’s the sixth consecutive year that Alabama has opened the season with a top-three ranking in the coaches poll, and seventh straight inside the top 5.

Making matters difficult, though, were the seven teams on Alabama’s 2015 schedule also ranked among the top 25 in the coaches poll, including Auburn and five other SEC teams in No. 9 Georgia, No. 13 LSU, No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 20 Arkansas and No. 25 Tennessee. There were eight total SEC teams ranked among the initial top 25, and 10 in the top 27 with Mississippi State and Texas A&M just missing out as the top two vote-getters also receiving votes.

The Tide begin the season with a top-20 showdown against No. 18 Wisconsin in the AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 5. Auburn opens the season Sept. 5 against Louisville in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.